GRW

I spent a wonderful weekend upstate at Cynara's cabin on the lake with some lovely ladies. We grilled out both nights on Cynara's deck, eating chicken wings and burgers, deliciously marinated to perfection. Hiking in the Minnewaska state park was amazing! We hiked for a few hours along a trail that overlooked the high cliffs dropping towards the clear, still lake below. We even saw some wildlife, a nice rattler and a sweet bear cub. But it was truly the company and great name games we played (helped along by some strong sangria) that made the weekend such a blast!

I wish my damn camera hadn't broken — but here are a few nice photos from the Catskill's visit.

Gowanus Jell-O Mold Competition

One of the stranger competitions I've seen. We went to a Jell-O mold competition in Brooklyn. I never realized all the possibilities of Jell-O. I was impressed.

Gangsta Tour

The writer shown above, Tom Folsom, published a book called 'The Mad Ones" which documents the life of a mafia gang in Red Hook. He offered a free walking tour of the waterfront area of Brooklyn and spoke about some key events that took place in that neighborhood. The gang leader, Joey Gallo is reputed to be the character that many films and books were later based on. Most famously, the Godfather is said to use bits from his life to shape the main characters. However a more silly film came out, “The Gang who couldn't Shoot Straight” starring Jerry Orbach was released a year earlier than the Godfather. The actor is said to have befriended Joey Gallo and brought him into the elite parties and introduced him to the social life in New York City at the time. Eventually Joey was gunned down in little Italy by a rival gang. Most interesting facts of course, were the gang's 'pet' lion used to encourage their victims to pay up. As well as nicknames of fellow gang members, Kid Blast, Mondo the Midget and Big & Little Lollipop.

Maya's 4th Birthday

We journeyed to Boston in May for Maya's fourth birthday party. She and Maizey are so cute. The couch and lamp are the items from Rod's grandmother Dorothe, that Emily is holding for us. The tray we found in New York and sent to Emily for her birthday. I liked it because it is a decoupage of a vintage postcard onto a glass tray.

getting inspired

As a designer, it is important to seek inspiration to feed future ideas. Design, is part inspiration/part process and the creative aspect comes into play by filtering through all the ideas to choose the most relevant solution. However, sometimes it's important just to play with images and type to regain that feeling of exploration. This helps open your mind to new ideas and techniques for later use and re-engerize you. So I've pulled some interesting images that I've found inspiring today. -- Artwork by the artist Kim Hiorthoy

Visiting the MET

This weekend, I wanted to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's been nearly 4 years since I was last there which is way to long. It's the largest museum in the city and world famous for its vast collection of more than 2million objects from all around the world. Although my favorite rooms to visit are the European masters. Since we are locals, though I decided to limit our visit to just one exhibition which was 'The Phillip de Montebello years', a motley exhibition that gathered some of the most prized aquisitions during the 30 years that Montebello was the director. Here are some of the pieces we saw. You can view the online exhibition here:
Phillip de Montebello exhibit

Interactive Sign

I'm a big fan of the HBO show 'Big Love' and when I saw this poster promoting the new season, I had to stop and look. This poster is interactive, it encourages you to plug in your headphones to jacks in the wall (presumably you have you ipod with you as any urban dweller would). When plugged in you will hear secrets that the people in the picture are thinking. It's a really cool idea.